oblivious nerd girl
hood chronicles

Totally stoked for tonight.  It's going to be an awesome night! 

Flipping The Music Video
Thursday, February 13th
8-10pm
Echo Park Film Center

1200 N Alvarado St. (@ Sunset Blvd.) Los Angeles, CA 90026

Music Videos, panelists, live performances
Light refreshments
$5 suggested donation
Proceeds to benefit The Harmony Project & Sessions LosAngeles

If you  are out of town or unable to make it to Echo Park Film Center Thursday night, you can follow Flipping The Music Video on tumblr.  The lineup will be posted tomorrow evening.  The videos we screen will be posted after the event. This way Flipping The Music Video  can be viewed and shared by everyone!  

Also this project is meant to continually showcase Filipin@ artists. If you know of a music video that should be highlighted you will be able to submit suggestions to the site.  

Flipping The Music Video
Thursday, February 13th
8-10pm
Echo Park Film Center

1200 N Alvarado St. (@ Sunset Blvd.) Los Angeles, CA 90026

Music Videos, panelists, live performances
Light refreshments
$5 suggested donation
Proceeds to benefit The Harmony Project & Sessions LosAngeles

Flipping The Music Video
Thursday, February 13th
8-10pm
Echo Park Film Center
1200 N Alvarado St. (@ Sunset Blvd.) Los Angeles, CA 90026

Music Videos, panelists, live performances
Light refreshments
$5 suggested donation
Proceeds to benefit The Harmony Project & Sessions LosAngeles

On Monday I came home from a meeting and found this waiting for me.  Initially all I saw was "Thank you Lainey" It took some prodding from Strawberry Farm Boy for me to take a second look at the whole message. "Thank you. Lainey (loves Drake). 

I shook my fist in the air and swore on the SessionsLA instructors who most likely wrote this on my indiegogo funded mixtape.  When I stop by to hang out with the kids and sometimes provide college counseling I may have mentioned that I enjoyed Drake's latest record. That stupid "Hold On, We're Going Home" is freaking catchy! And this video? OMG, it is RIDICULOUS. Like what is happening in this video? The song doesn't come in until 2 minutes and 30 seconds into the video! There is straight up exposition being shown to you in those 2 minutes and 30 seconds! Drake is partying with his boys. Life is good, right? No, no it's not good. While Drake is celebrating with his boys, his gal is getting ready in sexy lingerie and then gets kidnapped?! What club has phones? How is he getting this phone call?  Drake then saves her in a cinematic gun battle that reminds me of the movie Heat. LIke in what universe is this possible? Apparently in Drake's universe it happens.  

Drake tangent aside, SessionsLA continues to do work with youth.  I'm happy that a portion of the proceeds from Flipping The Music Video will support SessionsLA. These programs are few and far in between.  SessionsLA is run by good people (minus the Drake messages!) and puts out good music. And as I've mentioned in previous posts is founded by Strawberry Farm Boy Mike.   Who knew having turntables in Mike's old SIPA office could turn into the amazing program that SessionsLA is today. 

Flipping The Music Video
Thursday, February 13th
8-10pm
Echo Park Film Center
Music Videos, panelists, live performances
Light refreshments
$5 suggested donation
Proceeds to benefit The Harmony Project & Sessions LosAngeles

When the idea of this music video showcase was in it's infancy I had a mini panic attack. I thought to myself, "Where am I going to find these videos? Who will be out there?" After taking some deep breathes and calming myself down I realized I could look to my own musical library for a start.  It was fun to go through the music videos for artists that I totally dig.  Here are three artists who's videos we'll be showing at Flipping The Music Video.  These aren't the videos that will be screened, however these are other works in their repertoire.  So call it a sneak peak into what may be shown. 

Imago - Sundo by Marie Jamora.  I met Marie last year when her film Ang Nawawala screened at Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.  I immediately became a fan of how the film. The style. The actors. Even the way tumblr was used as a part of the film.  In addition to that the music was awesome. The soundtrack is full of OPM artists that are amazing.  

I've always had a thing for OPM. I am terrible at singing along since I can't really speak tagalog, but I really love the music.  Imago's Sundo is an example of my own musical taste in OPM.  When I hear this song I want to go on a road trip up PCH, stare at the ocean, and feel the wind in my hair. It's a song that reminds me of summer and being carefree. 

Rocky Rivera - No Love. It's funny, but I remember being a fan of the MTV show "I'm From Rolling Stone." I love reality tv. This is no secret. But I flipped my shit seeing this Filipina on screen competing for a spot on the Rolling Stone payroll. I even messaged her on MySpace and told her how I was a fan. (yes yes MySpace, I'm a nerd okay!) When she moved to LA a few years later, it tripped me out that I could consider this woman a friend.  When she decided to stake her own claim as a hip hop artist I was immediately intrigued. I've never been disappointed in the music she puts out.  

I am a fan of booming, hard hitting bass in my music. It's the reason I loved deep house in high school. It's the reason why Warren G's records still are some of my favorites.  When an emcee utilizes that sound I will instantly stop and listen.  No Love does that for me. And the lyrics. Hot damn. Listen to what she's spittin at you. It's as Dylan said on Puff Daddy's Making the Band - Hot Fire! 

Bambu (Featuring DJ Q-bert) - Crosshairs by Kevin Prudencio. This fool. I almost want to leave with just those two words, "This fool." I don't know if he knows this but my first memory is of him slanging cds at FPAC many, many, MANY moons ago. I was super young and my gut instinct was to roll my eyes at him.  For some reason whatever he said convinced me to give him my $5 or $10 whatever he was charging that day.  Since then I've worked with him on several community events and consider him a homie. Strawberry Farm Boy Mike and I have been in the audience of several of this mans shows. As all the other LA homies know, we do it because we are family and also fans. When he played the Roxy for the first time it was pretty insane. As much as we kid each other, I am a fan of his work.  

This song tripped me out because of DJ Q-bert being featured on the track.  Being married to Mike means I've learned quite a lot about djs through osmosis.  When we first started dating it would quite normal for him to play Invisible Scratch Pickles vhs tapes in the background of us studying for class.  The fact that I can remember the words "Invisible Scratch Pickles" is all due to him.  When Bambu's Crosshairs came out I geeked out at DJ Q-bert being on the song.  I'm a nerd. I blame Mike for this nerdy. 

I'm excited to see all these artists music videos in one place. I'm truly a fan and to bring them all together has been an awesome process. Come geek out with me. It will be fun!

Flipping The Music Video
Thursday, February 13th
8-10pm
Echo Park Film Center
Music Videos, panelists, live performances
Light refreshments
$5 suggested donation
Proceeds to benefit The Harmony Project & Sessions LosAngeles

In college I wrote many papers about Asian American representation in film and television. I can distinctly recall a paper about the film "The World of Suzie Wong" where it began with an angry poem about how fucked up it was that the beautiful Nancy Kwan's character Suzie had to have a hero in the knight in not so shiny armor played by the very attractive Bill Holden. (Yes the Bill Holden that Lucille Ball obsesses over at the Derby).  I believe the paper went on about how screwed up it was that Asian representation in film was split between the virgin or the dragonlady/whore. The paper was angry. I was angry. But the worst part of it all, I still love that damn movie.

Why? Because of Nancy Kwan.  She is beautiful in those 1950s films. And there was no one else to look up to as an Asian American child obsessed with film.  I even hoped she was Filipino, so that I could claim her. The narrative I created in my mind was that Nancy was Chinese-Filipnio because she just had to be. She could dance. I thought she could sing (See Flower Drum Song for that story).  She was super talented. She was everything I wanted to grow up to be. 

As a child I latched onto seeing Asian Americans and especially Filipnos on screen. Do you know how many times I've seen Operation Petticoat? Pops would get so excited hearing tagalog on screen! I honestly thought Anthony Quinn was Filipino when he played Andres Bonifacio in Back to Bataan. Why not? There were other Filipinos around him in that film. Sure they were a foot shorter than him, but I didn't care. It worked for my young impressionable oblivious nerd girl mind. 

These days seeing Filipnios on screen is easily accessible with TFC and GMA to most cable and satellite subscribers. The TV at Strawberry Farm Boy's parents house is always on TFC. Most of the time the shows are telenovelas or variety shows. It's all quite normal now. However seeing Filipinos and Filipino Americans in music videos still gives me that charge I felt from seeing Nancy Kwan on screen. The excitement of seeing someone who could be me on tv doing something mainstream.  

That's what Flipping the Music Video is about to me. These artists are using the music video medium to showcase their talent. These videos tell our stories and that's more than my oblivious nerd girl self ever got as a child.  Seeing all these music videos in one place is going to be epic. College oblivious would be so proud.  

PS - I still heart Nancy Kwan. She'll forever be one of my heroes. 

Hope to see you there folks!

Flipping The Music Video
Thursday, February 13th
8-10pm
Echo Park Film Center
1200 N. Alvarado St. (@ Sunset Blvd.), Los Angeles, CA 90026
Music Videos, panelists, live performances
Light refreshments
$5 suggested donation
Proceeds to benefit The Harmony Project & Sessions LosAngeles

2014 means new things.  One of the new things I'm tackling this year is curating.  Last year Irene Suico Soriano invited me to work on this project with her.  Brainstorming music videos from musical artists from the Philippines and the US has been rad. Finding artists and seeing what's out there has been crazy informative and enlightening.  It's allowed me to tap into the film background I studied in undergrad. 

Speaking of undergrad, that's when I first met Irene.  In 2002 a mentor encouraged several Filipino American students at UCI to attend the Filipino American National Historical Society or FANHS conference at Loyola Marymount University.  I recall it being a week of workshops and meeting Filipino Americans who were based in different parts of the US. Irene spoke at the spoken word component to the conference. 

I remember being totally inspired and blown away by her performance. In addition to performing poetry she also curated a film program for the FANHS conference. Being able to co-curate Flipping The Music Video with her years later is a bit surreal! I'm so happy to have connected with this awesome person! 

Mark your calendars folks!

Flipping The Music Video
Thursday, February 13th
8-10pm
Echo Park Film Center
Music Videos, panelists, live performances
Light refreshments
$5 suggested donation
Proceeds to benefit The Harmony Project & Sessions LosAngeles

See you there!